Postmortem

What amazes me, after the fact, is how so many people's tunes change. Or, how many people take on an "I told you so" mentality. Or, how so many people jump on the LeBron-bashing bandwagon.

Look, the Cavaliers lost a series they could have won. I'm not saying should have won. Just could have. But they didn't. It's unfortunate, but it's not a tragedy on the scale of a Hurricane Katrina, or a 9-11.

It's absurd to even say that, but that's how fans and members of the media often portray it. Come on, it's not rocket science. Orlando played better. To some extent, they played above their heads, if their stats in this series compared to their regular season numbers are any indication. They were lights-out, start to finish. But, so what? Give them credit. Sometimes, you just have to tip your cap.

So, some thoughts:

-- LeBron James's decision to leave the floor after the Game Six loss without shaking hands with the Magic, or to leave the arena without speaking to the media, may have been surprising and a little impolite, but it's not a major transgression. He expected to win a championship this year. This had to be one of the greatest disappointments of his career. Only he knew if he could handle talking with others, or not. He decided not. So now he's the target of critics far and wide -- fans and media pundits. Phooey. He came out the next day, acknowleged that the Magic deserved to win, assured people he's happy in Cleveland, and said it's still his goal to bring a championship to Cavs-land. Let it rest. Sometimes, losing is very, very tough to take.

-- I'm not sure I understand why Zydrunas Ilgauskas guarded Dwight Howard throughout the series. Say all you want about Mo Williams and Delonte West, but the terrible matchup was Z and Howard. To Stan Van Gundy's credit, he exploited it. The rest is gravy.

-- When you shoot like Orlando shot, you deserve to win games.

-- The post-series critiques of LeBron James, which taunt him for not making his teammates better, blah, blah, blah, ignore the fact that champions don't do it by themselves. There's no way this Cavs team, or this Magic team, or this Lakers team, beats the Lakers of Magic, Kareem, Worthy, Cooper, etc. No way they beat the Celtics of Bird, McHale and Parish. No way they beat the Bulls of Michael and Scottie. Those teams had all-time icons of the game -- the Lakers had two, in Magic and Kareem -- and never relied on just one player, especially not the way the Cavs rely on LeBron.

-- The New York Daily News reported over the weekend that Toronto is actively shopping Chris Bosh rather than risk losing him to free agency in 2010. The Raptors are interested in Utah's Carlos Boozer, while Chicago is reportedly dangling Luol Deng, among others. The Cavs should jump in and offer just about anyone other than LeBron, plus draft picks -- whatever fits when it comes to salary cap issues, expiring contracts, and so on. Ilgauskas would suffice just fine in the post next year if Bosh were alongside him. Bosh would be to LeBron what Pippen was to Jordan. I'd give 'em half the roster if that's what they want. Seriously -- take half this year's team away, put Bosh with LeBron, and Orlando disappears in four games, maybe five.

-- That said, I really enjoyed this season. I thought the addition of Williams was fabulous. I like West. I've always liked Varajeo. And I said previously that if the Cavs stayed healthy, they'd win it all. I was wrong, but it was a great ride, and I still like this team. Clearly, they need strength inside. But sports can be unpredictable, and the Cavs ran into a buzzsaw of a team in the Magic, who were (are?) peaking at precisely the right time. How hard is it to win a championship in the NBA? Consider this: The past 30 NBA seasons have been dominated by six teams. During that span, the Lakers have won eight championships, the Bulls six, the Spurs and the Celtics four each, Detroit three and Houston two. There are 30 teams in the league. And just six have climbed the mountain and won repeat titles over three decades. The Cavs are trying to get there. It ain't easy.

-- For my money? I think the Lakers match up well against Orlando, and Kobe Bryant is the lights-out shooter that the Cavaliers still lack. I'm picking L.A. to win the 15th title in their franchise's history.